NYPD approach to Critical Mass no model

TGL tweeted this morning about a blog post that showed that several California cities interpret bike laws very creatively, to put it nicely. But the NYPD’s attitudes towards cycling — which the SFPD has considered mimicking — take the issue to a whole new level.

The cops there — colleagues of the officer seen in this video shoving a Critical Mass participant off his bike for no reason whatsoever — have been trying to crack down on the impromptu bike rally. People might legitimately have mixed feelings about Critical Mass, but the NYPD has gone to such extremes that the department violated constitutional protections of free assembly. The blue was successfully sued, to the tune of a $965,000 payout.

The next day, the NYPD announced a crackdown on bike safety violations. Which you might say is the better way to handle the issue in the first place — instead of trying to stop Critical Mass, simply cite those participants who behave badly (a case that just as easily applies to aggressive behavior on city sidewalks, Prop L supporters).

But the announcement certainly smelled of retaliation. And indeed, reports emerged of a patrol car parked in a bike lane giving cyclists citations as they wove out of the lane to get by. Entrapment much? Not to mention that it’s not actually illegal to move out of the bike lane to get around a parked car. But it is more unsafe than staying in the bike lane, adding the threat of injury to the insult of an invalid $130 ticket.